Doc says not diabetic, then why high sugar?

Hello..just a shout out to see if anyone has experienced these symptoms. Stats: I'm 46, female, thin, vegetarian and a life long exerciser. I started to experience weird thirst several months ago, finally bought a glucometer and discovered BG of up to 240 or so after eating carbs. Over several weeks, I then checked BG on two different meters, same result. So I went to doc; he ordered labs. H1Ac came back 5.5. OGTT came back fasting BG 100, one hour BG 60, two hour BG 60. Dr. said I did not have diabetes. But he did refer to me to an endo, however I have to wait 6 months to see him and I have 3 months left.

Meanwhile, I've metered at home many times and discovered my pattern; here it is. Morning BG is 104-115. If I eat carbs without fat or protein, BG shoots up within first 30 minutes up to mid 200's, then over the next 90 minutes plummets down, into about the 80's and eventually climbs back up to 120's until I eat again. If I limit carbs, BG only rises to 140-180. I realize I can curb these spikes by eating my carbs with fat/protein and I have been trying to make that change because I feel better when I don't have the large spikes/drops.

I am basically healthy; my other medical stuff is small: hashimotos thyroid disease, hypotension with neurocardiogenic syncope; and a murmur related to a few trace to mild heart valve leaks, which I hear is fairly normal. I just discovered the last two conditions since I've had the BG problem. I started experiencing presyncope and chest pains which sent me to the cardio. I do believe that my BG does affect my blood pressure tremendously which I think causes chest pain. One last recent symptom to add; I have horrible early awakening insomnia (maybe perimenopause?) So, is it probable that I am developing diabetes which has exacerbated the blood pressure/heart stuff and brought on perimenopause?!!!

I have no idea; but I'm basically asking this forum if this is not diabets, what is it??

Thanks!

Did you wash your finger before you got the blood out of it? If your A1C is 5.5, you would not likely have BG in 240? That is a pretty easy way to get a reading that is out of whack? I would think that as a ‘rookie’ perhaps you would be more likely to wash your hands but if you had eaten and go directly to test, food on your fingers, sometimes lotion too (Burt’s Bees!) can throw the gizmos off?

Well… There are many things something could be, if it’s not Diabetes. Some of them are taking too many vitamins of a certain kind. For example, taking too much Vitamin C can start showing numbers in the 200+ range… Other vitamins like too much Vitamin A, Niacin, etc can raise it. There are also medications that can raise BG, such as Prozac, Abilifi, Steroids (for Asthma), Statins (for Cholesterol). Some other illnesses, such as certain types of Cancer, can cause high blood sugar.



I should also point out that most people have brief peeks at 30 minutes, and that’s normal, and is not associated with complications… Here’s a good blog post on when to test… http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com/2007/11/when-to-test-blood-sugar…



I can’t really give you a decisive/conclusive answer on what your issue might be… But I can tell you that a BG of 60 isn’t exactly… normal? It seems like reactive hypoglycemia, to me. And reactive hypoglycemia is sometimes associated with development of Diabetes.



Just watch yourself very, very carefully during this amount of time you’re waiting to see that Endo… Any time you feel off, please test…



– If you feel too moody/swinging between your moods

– If you feel drunk or loopy

– If you get powerful hunger and headaches that are outside of the norm for you

– If you feel hungover

– If you get nauseous or in a sweat

– Always, always test before exercising, and make sure you’ve eaten if you’re anywhere below 70… if you feel off during exercise, stop and test your blood sugar

– If you wake up in the middle of the night, and feel bad… test your blood sugar.





Now is a time to keep a good journal, too. If you want, you can use an excel file, in a pen drive or something, or a simple little journal that can go in your pocket. Write it all down. What did you eat, and when, how did you feel… your blood sugar tests… At what time you tested… Also, note if you tested your meter to make sure it was calibrated properly with control solution. When your doctor tests your fasting and A1C at the lab, take the opportunity to use your meters to test your blood sugar right there and then, in the lobby, before you go in… so you can compare it’s readings to the lab readings… When you go ARMED with knowledge to your doctors appointments, whatever might be going on will not be as easy to dismiss by someone.



I hope they are able to find whatever it is that’s going on… and I wish you the best of luck. Welcome to our community. We’re glad to help in any way we can. If you do happen to have Diabetes, please make them insist on testing you for antibodies … For Type 1. You are older, but you are also thinner… AND you already have one autoimmune condition which tends to go hand in hand with Type 1. Don’t let them not test you.

Hi, thanks for the reply. I’ve tested many, many times and I registered BG over 200 on three different meters, on different days over a three month period. I do wash my hands :), but not necessarily every time. I don’t go above 200 unless I eat straight carbs (example recently I had a very busy day, hungry, no time to eat, grabbed a snack bag of cheetos, BG was 215 an hour later…). It seems that if I am very, very hungry and then eat pure carbs I have the strongest BG response. Anyway, I’m thinking small fast spikes are not enough to raise H1Ac. From what I read, BG’s routinely over 150 at some point almost every day are not normal.

Thank DWQ…I do feel very hypo when my sugar drops into 80’s…super shaky, cold, etc… I test quite often and my BG only drops into the 80’s if I hav a big carb boost/spike, or if I’m drinking alcohol. In three months, I’ve never had a result below 85 at home; I don’t know what happened at the lab; it was obviously the orange syrup…which seems far extreme of anything I would ever eat. I do plan on asking for autoimmune tests.

Yeah, the orange syrup is pure glucose – 75 grams of of it. It’s a bomb! lol :slight_smile:

Checking less than one hour after eating is not likely to be that informative as no one really seems to know what non-diabetic reading are in the first 10, 20 , 30 minutes. Normal people do spike briefly too. Your A1C is reassuring. Just keep watching it.

It’s possible that you are at the beginning of Type 1 diabetes. Most adults who are eventually diagnosed w/ Type 1 have a slower progression, and lots of newly adult-diagnosed T1s have a honeymoon where they need little to no insulin for a period of time… Also, once you get an autoimmune disease (Hashimoto’s), your chances for developing other autoimmune diseases is much higher. You could always get tested for the T1 antibodies (there is a whole panel of them, can’t remember right now), to see if you’re possibly going down that road. You’ll probably have to pay for them yourself, though, and it can be quite costly.

The symptoms you describe are consistent with MODY-2, mild elevated fasting, mild elevated HbA1c, delayed insulin response to eating (usually not provoking an insulin response until you are over 180 mg/dl), but strong insulin response. You can learn more about monogenic diabetes here (http://diabetesgenes.org) and more about MODY-2 here (http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/diabetesgenes/mody/glucokinase.htm).

Thank you very much for your link. My paternal grandmother was diagnosed late in life and she was always thin. My father has been showing elevated glucose recently lately and he is being tested. So, maybe it is genetic. I do know that whatever is happening to me is new…my fasting glucose has been mid 80’s for as long as I’ve had routine labwork done; it now averages 110…I’ll be glad when I can figure this out…I miss my potatoes!!!

Note that monogenic diabetes is genetic, you will have had the condition all your life. With MODY-2 you would have had an elevated fasting all your life. I do wish you luck figuring things out.

Hi SilverLining: As Kimberly points out, those with Hashimoto’s (autoimmmune hypothyroidism) have an increased potential for Type 1 diabetes (autoimmune diabetes). One stat I saw indicated that, in women with Type 1 diabetes over the age of 40, 80% also have Hasimoto’s. In adults, Type 1 onset tends to be slower. The definitive, gold standard test for Type 1 diabetes is antibody testing (glutamic acid decarboxylase antibodies (GADA), islet cell antibodies (ICA), and insulinoma-associated (IA-2) autoantibodies), and the c-peptide test is also useful but not definitive. The tests are relatively inexpensive and widely available. As BSC points out, another possibility is MODY. Unfortunately, MODY is more difficult to diagnose, and it is probably under-diagnosed as a result. I am so sorry about what you are going through–best of luck to you, keep us posted, and TuD is an excellent place to get support.

I think it sounds like possible type 1. You mentioned you have the hashimotos thyroid disease and there are several type 1’s on here who have that. Also, the A1C is an average of your BG’s for the last 3 months - meaning it depends on how much time you spend at the higher numbers so if your number go up and down quickly but mostly spend time at the lower numbers - yes, your A1C would be lower. Lot of Type 1’s have those higher spikes and than lows but still have good A1C’s. (although just a side note, you don’t have to be thin to be Type 1 and you don’t have to be fat to be a Type 2 - so be careful of drs or others who prescribe to these steretypes. This is a very individualistic disease. I am very thin and I am Type 2).

You won’t be able to find out much else until you see the endo because only stuff they can test needs to be done to figure out what is up. Until than I would just stay low carb - if the fat and protein help when you eat carbs than eat than with any carbs you eat. I am a vegetarian too so I know how hard it is to eat low carb veg. I would avoid bread (usless it is low carb), pasta, rice, potoates,corn - or havve them very sparingly. ( I know they are staples of the veg diet so it is hard). Sounds like you are figuring out the diet though already so you will be prepared with whatever you need to do. Yes, carbs turned into sugar - so limiting carbs will help your numbers. No more cheetos unfortunately!

Actually just to add I believe most non-diabetics would have an A1C in the 4’s because their BGs would be more consistent and not all over the place depending on what they eat.

Check with your pharmacist about any prescriptions you might be taking. Some medications can cause hyperglycemia!

Interesting… I do not get an insulin response unless I am about 180+ so when I am low carbing and my sugar doesn’t spike as much I’m actually exercising more because I have no insulin response. Are MODY’s usually thin? I’m also reading that most MODY2 is caught during gestational diabetes screening, thats when mine was found. Thanks for the info!

Hi KimKat…YES, It is SO much harder being a vegetarian; even 2 small bean tostados send me over 200…(flour tortilla, refried beans, lettuce, tomato, cheese, black olive, sour cream). Even though the flour tortilla is small and fried, apparently, it’s a strong carb effect; and the beans are carbs too; I guess I need to start testing individual foods like beans by themselves to what effect they have. I read oatmeal is good for diabetics, but I ate a very, very small bowl (less then 1/2 cup) with 2 T milk and 1/2 tsp of sugar and BG went to 180. Sigh…I know everyone goes through this…but it’s SAD to find out food can’t be the pleasure it once was! Thanks for your thoughts.

Thanks Hope. Actually, there is info out there on nondiabetics at 30 minutes and numbers over 200 are not normal. I found information this weekend on first phase insulin release…apparently it is the first defense to go when developing diabetes. Now I realize this is probably what is happening to me now. I’m thinking I’m in the early stages of some type of diabetes. Thanks to everyone who has written in; it’s nice to have other people providing information and support!

Hi! I am actually vegan so that makes it even harder! But yes, there are so many high carb foods in our diets. :slight_smile:

I eat lots of Mexican. I love it! I either leave out the tortilla or just recently I found a lower carb hard corn taco shell that is only 7 carbs. This way I can load my fixings in the taco shell but mostly I cut in half and than use the halfs as a sort tostata. :slight_smile: I use the Tofutti sour cream and a vegan cheese brand. This usually doesn’t send me up too high but I am Type 2 and I am on meds. So, once you see your endo and get your treatement going I am sure you will be to eat your veg mex food. I would really avoid the white flour products though if you can. I have seen some low carb tortilla wraps at some stores - you have to look in the health food stores though.

Yes, beans are high in carbs but they are a better carb than straight white flour because they have fiber, protein and nutritional value. Fiber can slow down that spike. So if you are going to have a higher number at least got something out of it - white flour products have zilch value really - they are just turning into pure sugar.

Oatmeal good for diabetics? Where did you read that? :slight_smile: I never heard that. I remember my first day of going on meds and doing BG tests I had oatmeal for breakfast - no sugar, flavorings or anything. Sent me to 258 - I haven’t had oatmeal since. Oatmeal is high in carbs. That said, some people can handle it others can’t. I need to have some sweetener on my oatmeal so I would rather not have it at all if I can’t - tasted like glue otherwise!

You will get used to it. You will find substitutes - maybe not for everything but yes, there are a lot of dietary changes involved. There are still things I miss but i try to be really enjoy the things I can have. I miss fruit and bread (that was my big weakness) but I have found a low carb bread I like and I ate way too much bread before anyhow (my diet was almost all bready things). So, yeah, I am mad I can’t have my favorite bread but it is healthier for me anyhow not too eat too much of that stuff - so maybe it is good that I am now restricted on it because I eat more variety now - more veggies etc.

For sugar, you should go out and get the subs - stevia is one. Lots of stores now sell other sugar subsitutes that are suitable for diabetics. No more real sugar (i know hard esp. around the candy holidays). Not that you can’t treat yourself everyonce and a while but real sugar on a daily basis, not the best idea anymore. Just change as you can handle it and don’t get too frustrated. Let us know what happens with your endo. To bad you can’t get in sooner.

Yes, it is harder to keep carbs low as a vegetarian, Silver, but not impossible. I do a lot more cooking and preparing of complex recipes than I did before because a simple dinner of pasta and vegies is no longer an easy option for me. I have found low carb tortillas in super markets, so you might want to see if they have them near you-they are the flour tortillas which are good for wrapping things. I actually eat refried beans for breakfast now instead of bread and find that 1/2 C is much gentler on my blood sugar (and better for me) than a good slice of artisan bread was. I do make my own though, so you might want to test if you use the canned ones. Yes, testing is definitely the key to find out what works for you as we are all different.
Bottom line, I don’t agree that food can’t be the pleasure it once was - once you figure out what works for you you can absolutely eat well and enjoy your food. I do find it a lot easier to cook myself than eat out though.

Seeking more info again! I have a new symptom…lightning like shocks all over, you could also describe it as streaking, burning, stinging pains near the surface of skin (arms, legs, hands, feet, fingers, toes, even face and scalp) hundreds of times a day. Also buzzing vibration in feet. I think it is parathesia maybe? The dr. rechecked blood work, my A1C is 5.8 up from 5.5 three months ago, so it appears I’m still developing some type of diabetes. Labwork for B12 showed mild deficiency and lastly my TSH level quadripuled after being stable for over 15 years. Obviously something or a few things are going haywire in the motherboard!!!

So, I think it has to be either prediabetes, b12 deficiency, or hypothyroid. I’ve been taking 1000 B12 sublingually for 10 days, also increased thyroid meds for 30 days, and the shocks SEEM a little less, but still there. So, I’m wondering maybe it is the developing diabetes??? Anyone else have these sensations…some are quite painful, but most are not.